Saturday, April 05, 2008

I've been itching to try a new Italian restaurant which has gone into the space Christopher's vacated in Novato. And last night Dad & I tried it out. Aurora Ristorante Italiano is run by a 'real' Aurora, who happens also to be REALLY Italian! On a busy Friday night, the first thing you notice is the 'din' when you open the door, but it is happy noise, and is much like stepping into a large Italian family's dining room.

Before you seen the street sign, you'll notice the enticing greenery around the deck, and the cheerfully lit deck itself. Since it was rather windy and cold, all of the patrons were inside when we arrived.

I had terrible luck with the photos I took. The Caesar salad that was so delightfully dressed, with homemade croutons and very fresh romain came out entirely fuzzy. But I would not hesitate to order it again. And the photo I took of the delightfully fresh capellini pomodoro that I had completely disappeared off my camera! It was made of fresh tomatoes, simmered just right, and had soft sweet pieces of onion flavoring it as well. Aurora brought over a large hunk of Parmesan and grated some fresh, dancing threads of it over my pasta. Dad enjoyed the rigatoni in meat sauce that managed to be the only decent food photo taken last night. Although he was a little grumpy at the noise level since he couldn't hear well, he likened this dish favorably to the food he had made by an Italian friend's mother on one of his furloughs during WWII. I will definitely visit this new found Italian family again!

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Marin County Food Inspection Reports

The original online database of food inspection reports in Marin County was updated and moved to another URL in 2012. The pre-2012 links in posts here will not work, but you can look up all restaurants ratings here.

Anna lives in Mill Valley California and enjoys writing about her food and travel adventures in and out of Marin County.

"...what I would like to capture aren't thoughts but the scent of my happiness!"- Jacques Henri Lartique